Old Favourites: The Editorial Team Share Their Top TV Shows, Books & Restaurants

I was reminded of how much I loved Lisa Taddeo’s 2019 debut Three Women when I interviewed bestselling writer Jojo Moyes the other week. An absolute feat of writing, it’s a riveting true story about the sex lives of three real American women, based on nearly a decade of reporting by Taddeo. The result is a deep portrait of desire, and one which will leave you questioning the status quo by the end of the book. It’s not just the stories themselves that stick. Three Women grips you by the throat because it reads like fiction. By spending time with Lina, Maggie and Sloane over eight years and intertwining her life into theirs, Taddeo gets under the skin of each woman, and every chapter reads like a first-person account. Unlike the cast that surrounds each of the three protagonists – be they jury members, colleagues, parents, friends or partners – Taddeo doesn’t judge them for the decisions they make prior. She just listens. By laying bare the peril and inner torment women face when they are not believed, acknowledged or accommodated, Three Women is a cautionary tale not to be so critical of others.

Catching a criminal often requires the authorities to get inside the villain's mind to figure out how he thinks. In Netflix series Mindhunter, that's the job of FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) as they attempt to understand and snare serial killers by studying their damaged psyches. Along the way, the agents pioneer the development of modern serial-killer profiling. Directed by David Fincher (Gone Girl, Fight Club), this is a slow-burning 70s-set thriller – based on a true story – that will have you hooked (and then annoyed seeing as it’s currently on a long hiatus while Fincher wraps up a couple of films). An excellent soundtrack only adds to its watchability. 

On the food front, lively ramen joint Bone Daddies serves up 20-hour bone broths mixed and matched with decadent toppings – and is one of my failsafe options if I can’t think of where I want to eat. I always order the tonkotsu with chashu pork, an oozing, golden egg and all the chilli oil I can handle. For something a bit lighter – but that’s also big on Asian flavours – at home I turn to Donna Hay, especially her Week Light cookbook. Each of her books focus on quick and healthy meals that are full of flavour. Some of my go-tos include her chorizo and cauliflower Bolognese, and miso chicken meatballs.

I still think about the novel The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides all the time. It’s a quick and engaging thriller with a mega plot twist that stays with you . I would be surprised if no TV or film adaptation comes out of it. The characters are just so easy to conjure up – you become fascinated by each one and you’re determined to unravel all the mysteries that surround them. The book focuses on Alicia – who commits a shocking act of violence against her husband – and her therapist Theo. You root for both at different times, as they enter a tense game of cat-and-mouse. If you're looking for a book to lose yourself in, this is it. 

Another book that still gives me the shivers is Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, which HBO then brought to the TV screen. The story focuses on Camille Preaker, a journalist who returns to her hometown to solve the murder of two young girls, but is forced to face her own twisted past, as well as some horrifying secrets that lie close to home. Camille is brought to life by Amy Adams, while her mother Adora Crellin is played by the eerie Patricia Clarkson, and her sister, Amma by the up-and-coming Eliza Scanlen. It's as dark as the book – both in terms of the setting and the behaviour of each character – with swift episodes that keep you guessing ‘whodunit’ right until the last two minutes of the show. When I say it's shocking, I mean it. 

Speaking of incredible shows, one of the best I've ever seen on the BBC is Giri Haji. Set in both Tokyo and London, it's a thriller that follows detective Kenzo Mori as he scours London's seedy underbelly in search of his allegedly deceased brother, Yuto. Along the way, he finds out what could have led to his disappearance, stumbling across a dangerous criminal circuit and nasty gang war. Line of Duty's Kelly McDonald plays one of the show's key characters, but it's nice to see some lesser-known names too. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger, so you'll want to binge it.

When it comes to old foodie favourites, nothing beats Bancone for me. I love the one in Soho's Golden Square. It has a concise but delicious menu of Italian classics – think rich ragus, truffle ravioli and chilli, garlic and parsley pasta. Don't miss the most-requested dish – silk handkerchiefs, walnut butter and confit egg yolk – it's so comforting. The wine list is great too – the Le Coste Trebbiano, Poderi Dal Nespoli is so clear, with a tiny fizz to it.